The Bureau of Labor Statistics published data Thursday showing that fewer-than-expected Americans filed for new jobless benefits last week, as investors remain fixated on movements in Treasury yields amid renewed inflation concerns in a tight labor market.
The BLS said 207,000 people filed applications for new jobless benefits over the week ending on September 30, a 2,000 person increase from the prior period but around 5,000 shy of the Street consensus forecast.
Last week, the BLS reported only 205,000 new applications, the lowest level in nearly eight months, in a reading that added to wage-lead inflation concerns in the tight U.S. labor market.
Data this week, however, has been mixed, with the BLS's Jobs Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, better-known as JOLTs, rising to 9.6 billion over the month of August, and payroll processing group ADP's National Employment Report for the month of September showing a notable pullback in private-sector hiring.
U.S. stock futures were modestly lower following the weekly jobless claims data release, with contracts tied to the S&P 500 indicating a 12 points opening bell decline and those linked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average suggesting a 95 point pullback.
Benchmark 10-year note yields, which slipped to 4.712% in overnight trading, jumped 5 basis points to 4.76% while 2-year notes added 5 basis points to 5.061%.
The BLS will publish its official September employment report on Friday, with analysts expecting the economy to add 168,000 new jobs over the month as wages rise modestly from August and the headline unemployment rate slips to 3.7%.
Both today's weekly claims and Friday's non-farm payroll report will play a crucial role in defining the market's near-term inflation forecasts, which, alongside hawkish Federal Reserve signaling, have lifted Treasury bond yields to fresh 2007 highs and accelerated bets on an end-of-year rate hike.
Benchmark 10-year note yields, which traded as high as 4.832% earlier this week, were last seen changing hands at 4.742% in overnight dealing, while 2-year notes were pegged at 5.048%.
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